Tofig Ismayilov (film director)

Tofiq Ismayilov (6 April 1939 – 25 March 2016) was an Azerbaijani film director, screenwriter and film scholar.

Ismayilov directed over 30 films, including documentaries and starred in several films. From 2007, he lectured in the Azerbaijani State University of Culture and Art. As a scholar, Ismayilov authored the encyclopedia The Cinema History of Turkic People. His articles were published in over fifty Turkish newspapers and journals.

Biography
Tofig Ismailov was born in Baku on April 6, 1939. He graduated from Baku City Secondary School No. 190 in 1958. After graduating from high school, he entered the M.A. Aliyev Theater Institute at the Faculty of Acting. He then enrolled in the directing department and graduated in 1968. In his student years, he worked as an assistant and then as an assistant director. He worked on the AzTV channel. Since 1974, he has been the head of the Department of Directing at the Theater Institute, from which he graduated. He worked at the Mimar Sinan State University of Arts in Turkey from 1994 to 2006. Since 2007, he has been teaching at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art.

Tofik Ismayilov died on March 25, 2016 in Baku after a long illness. His grave is located in the Yasamal cemetery.